The invention relates to lamp housings and particularly to automotive lamp housings. More particularly the invention is concerned with the structure of an automotive lamp housing assembly.
Vehicle headlamps and other lamp housing assemblies include a light source, one or more lenses, a lamp housing or housing, and an applique. Appliques are decorative articles secured to a vehicle usually for aesthetic purposes. One common application of appliques is in the back-up and rear fog lamp assemblies. Such assemblies are generally mounted to the vehicle using screws, by welding or by snapping the various parts together in place. However, state and federal regulations for vehicle optical packages require that the lamp meet certain minimum lighting criteria, which indirectly requires a minimum reflector area. The reflector size can conflict with styling objectives and sheet metal manufacturing limitations. In addition, if located on a vehicle lift gate, there is minimal front to back space for the lamp housing, resulting in very tight space limitations. Providing a housing to lens coupling takes a first amount of space. Providing a lens to applique coupling takes a second amount of space. Hiding the seams internally for a cosmetic exterior surface takes a third amount of space. The cumulative competition for space in such tight quarters makes simple designs difficult.
The apparent alternative of more complex designs, leads to multiple components and a plurality of assemble steps. For example, parts may be screwed, or bolted to avoid multiple glue tracks. This leads in turn to increased component and assembly costs. Accordingly, minimization of the number of screws and nuts, or complete elimination of screws and nuts necessary in the construction of such optical packages, would be desirable, and so also would be the elimination of multiple glue tracks. It also would be desirable to design a housing assembly that requires less space, is less costly, and is easy to produce and install.
The problems of the prior art have been overcome by the present invention, which provides a vehicle lamp housing that uses a multiple-piece adhesive track to secure the components together. The assembly and seal can be formed in a single operation. The invention eliminates conventional fastening means such as welding, snaps, screws and nuts, as well as extra operations that would otherwise increase the cost of the finished product. In a preferred embodiment, the same adhesive that is used to seal the lens to the housing is also used for assembly of the components.
More specifically, the present invention uses a bonding agent to bond an applique, a lens, and a housing together. The applique and lens are designed such that when properly positioned with respect to each other, a groove is formed between them into which the housing is inserted. The bonding agent is applied to the groove to secure the pieces together. The system allows for a face down sequential construction from the backside without causing unsightly bonding agent to seep out the front face of the assembly. Only a single glue track is needed, and only a single gluing pass is necessary during construction.